Government must move immediately to fill Commission vacancy
- Resignation of Commissioner Hogan welcome but overdue.
- Critical Commission post must be filled immediately by Government.
- Nominee must be of the highest calibre at critical time for Ireland.
Responding to the resignation of Commissioner Phil Hogan this evening Labour Party Leader Alan Kelly said:
“I welcome the decision of Phil Hogan to resign from the EU Commission and I want to thank him for his service. However, this action is five days overdue and has resulted in enormous damage to our effort to tackle Covid-19. It was clear from a very early stage that he had to go, such was the level of public anger at the flagrant breach of Covid-19 regulations at the Oireachtas Golf event and non-compliance with the 14 day isolation period.
“The Government needs to move quickly to fill the vacancy that now arises in the EU Commission at what is a critical moment for Ireland.
“The Irish nominee must be a person of the highest calibre to impress upon the Commission President and the European Parliament that we should retain the trade portfolio. If necessary that means the government must break with tradition and consider a person from outside the party political system.
“The EU response to the pandemic will be vital in defeating this virus and we cannot forget that there is still the threat of a crash out Brexit hanging over us, to which rural Ireland is particularly vulnerable.”